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“Is everyone here?” Cassie asked. “Is there anyone missing?”
“People arrive at different times,” Erin said. “Most of these people will filter out and others will show up. There aren’t many who stay the whole time.”
Rachel usually did, but she’d headed to Puerto Vallarta after Hanukkah and had been having an intense fling with a local bartender for the past week. Erin was getting regular text updates with more information than she needed.
“Oh, I just wondered if anyone saw that the sidewalk wasn’t perfectly shoveled, got offended, and left.”
Cassie couldn’t keep a straight face, a teasing smirk breaking through as Erin laughed and shoved at her shoulder.
“You’re rude.”
“I’m just pointing out that I was right. No one cares what your house looks like. They’re here for the company. And maybe thefood.” She grabbed another shrimp puff off Erin’s plate and popped it into her mouth.
Thank God Adam came in before Erin could overthink and be mortified at the way she’d shoved Cassie’s shoulder. It felt childish, and obvious. Like pulling someone’s pigtails on the playground.
Erin was grateful for the interruption, but she hoped Adam hadn’t noticed the way she took a giant step backward upon hearing his voice. She hadn’t realized they had been standing so close. She went back to the punch while Adam resumed a conversation he’d apparently begun earlier with Cassie.
“I’m serious about the recommendation,” he said. “I’d be happy to write you one. It would help to have someone outside of academia speak up for you, and I’m happy to say I’m somewhat well-known.”
Erin rolled her eyes as she added lemon juice to the ginger ale–cranberry juice mix. Adam and his fucking opinion of himself.
“I think it’s probably more important to have someone who knows my work and what I’m like,” Cassie said.
Erin recognized the forced politeness in her voice. She’d had to use the same tone plenty of times when talking to men in medicine.
“I don’t know—I write a mean recommendation letter.” Adam chuckled. “And I know being female will help you when it comes to admissions, but you need more than the diversity boost.”
The cap of the lemon juice bit into Erin’s hand as she tightened it with more force than required. Surely her ex-husband did not just say that.
“You’re not going to get into Caltech just because you’re a girl. If we could—”
Erin absolutely could not let him say one more word. “Adam?” He looked at her like he hadn’t realized she was in the room. At least that meant he didn’t notice how close she’d been to Cassie earlier. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”
She didn’t wait for him to reply, just turned and walked into thepantry that connected to the kitchen. She squeezed her fingers into fists to keep her hands from shaking.
Adam followed eventually, and Erin whirled on him as soon as he was in the small room.
“What are you doing?”
He took a step back. “What do you mean?”
Erin pressed her lips together and flexed her fingers wide. “Did Cassie ask you for a recommendation letter?”
Adam narrowed his eyes. “I offered.”
“Seriously, Adam?” Erin’s voice snapped, and it was probably too loud—Cassie could be listening, the door to the pantry not fully closed.
“What? I’m not supposed to offer to help our daughter’s friends now?”
This conversation was every reason Erin divorced this man. His calm, arrogant certainty.
“You’re not supposed to talk to a woman you barely know and assume you know better than her what she needs.”
“It’s not that I know better than her—”
“You’re right,” Erin said. “You don’t. Especially if you’re going to act like she can only get into graduate school because she’s a woman.”
Adam scoffed and Erin wanted to strangle him.
